Dr. Carl Moeller is the leader of Biblica, the International Bible Society. He recently spoke with VOM’s Todd Nettleton on VOMRadio.net. Part of the interview is below. (Edited for length, clarity, and reading level.)

Children in India reading the Bible
Dr. Moeller: When I talk to pastors and church leaders and evangelists in the persecuted church, their idea of being blessed is quite different. They say, “We consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ, and in so doing we know that our reward will be eternal.”
There is a movement that is trying to get rid of Christianity in India, and there are millions and millions of Christians in India. This could be a very, very bad situation in the next decade or so.
I met two evangelists in their early 20s who told me about their ministry in India. They went out by twos, like in the New Testament. [See Mark 6:7-12.] They would go from village to village. They would pray, and as the Spirit led them to different villages, they distributed Bibles, prayed for people, and healed some of the people. Then they would move on.
Well, a Hindu group heard about these guys. The Hindus beat them senseless; they were beaten and left for dead. They were actually thrown off a bridge leading into a village. They landed in the mud flats below and were unconscious.
Both of them woke up the next morning, and you can imagine this beating. They were beaten with a pipe. I saw the scar on the head of one of them. I said, “What did you do?”
They answered, “We washed off in the river and then we went back into the village to keep doing the ministry.”
To Think About
Read Acts 14:19-22. How is Paul’s story in Acts like the story of the evangelists in India?
Why do the persecuted Christians consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ?